Author: Ruby Sinreich

Treo deathmatch

6 Comments

I’m getting ready to replace my trusty 3-year-old Treo 600 with a newer model. I’m looking at the colorful and affordable 680, and the newer, professional 755p. They are almost the same with the following differences. Any advice?

Treo 755p Treo 680
$279* $199
CDMA2000
EvDO
(faster Internet)		 GSM/GPRS/
EDGE
(works outside the US)
128MB storage 64MB storage
1.3MP camera VGA camera
Sprint AT&T

I actually think the international function might be more important to me than the faster speed, even though I would benefit from the latter much more often.

* Probably more because I am already on Sprint.

Getting organized to organize

8 Comments

It’s my first day on the new job, and I’m trying to figure out a short-term solution to a long-term problem. I want to set up a way to track and share my own to-do list, text notes, and maybe calendar, but preferably in a way that will be forward-compatible with a more comprehensive, organization-wide system that I will figure out and implement later. I’ve stored some running lists of groupware and self-organization tools, but I don’t know which ones (if any) support open standards or some other way to get data out.

One interesting tool is http://Grou.ps which seems to be a collector/aggregator for other services. Anyone used it? Should I just give up my resistance to the Borg and use Google?

Busting the myth of conservative America

Leave a comment

A new report by Media Matters for America and the Campaign for America’s Future asserts that Americans are not as conservative as we think, and that we’re even moving to the left.

… a look across the scope of American public opinion reveals a public that holds progressive positions and supports progressive solutions on economic issues, on social issues, on security issues – indeed, on nearly all the key issues confronting the country. For years, the conventional wisdom has maintained just the opposite, but the facts are impossible to ignore.
– Media Matters – The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America is a Myth

Working for peace

13 Comments

Almost a month ago, I wrote about leaving my job at Netcentric Campaigns in search of something that would make me happier while continuing my own growth professionally and personally. I laid out what I wanted from a new job:

  1. Collaborative organizational structure supported by democratic management.
  2. Openness to innovation at the strategic and technological levels.
  3. Ability to telecommute…
  4. Passion for what I’m doing…

– lotusmedia 2.0 » A brave new world

And I also mentioned in that post that I had a job interview the following day. It was with the Fellowship of Reconciliation for the position of Communication Co-coordinator. That phone interview went very well, which led to an in-person meeting, which led to a job offer, which led to a bit of a dilemma for me. I was at the point of looking ahead at the wide world of options, activating my social networks, and also looking forward to a break from work. Along came a perfectly good offer that more than met my criteria, but I was just starting my job search, not ready to end it.

I spent some time contemplating (while participating in the NetSquared conference), I spoke to colleagues, I listened to friends. I finally decided that although the timing was not ideal, this job was a very good fit, especially in terms of the criteria I had already developed. I took the job!
Continue reading “Working for peace” →

Blogging our work and working our blogs

3 Comments

A few weeks ago, my friend Anton noted the increasing role that blogs can play in professional development and networking.

My friend and fellow NC Science Blogging Conference organizer Bora Zivkovic is benefitting from a similar, ad hoc experiment: when he found out about a cool job at PLoS, he wrote a post titled I Want This Job!. He tells me that the many adoring comments that his readers posted to that entry made quite an impression with PLoS. I hope Bora will be able to write soon about how his blogging led to a new job.

Meanwhile, another Chapel Hill friend and blogger, Ruby Sinreich, has announced through her blog her that she’s on the job market.
– mistersugar: Catch-up blogging

Bora actually got that job, and will now be telecommuting to San Francisco for the Public Library of Science.

Yes. I said I wanted this job. And, in a very new and interesting way, after a fun interview, I got it. Signed and faxed the contract yesterday. Will be in San Francisco for a little while in July, then telecommute afterwards. Can pajamas be deducted as tools one needs for the job? Exciting!
– A Blog Around The Clock : It’s Official!

However, I must caution Bora against working in pajamas. Although I’ve done it myself on occasion, don’t underestimate the beneficial psychological effect of taking a shower and getting dressed. Plus you never know when a colleague will want to try video conferencing. 😉

The latest addiction

Leave a comment

Flixster.com combines the data on IMdB.com with all network-y goodness of FilmTrust and the user-submitted content of MySpace. The interface isn’t quite as horrible, and there’s lots more to do there than surf your friends pages. Witness: I just spent much of the last few hours there and I have no friends in the system. (Although I do have almost 30 Facebook friends using it through their integrated application.)

The main benefit for me over IMdB (which I love) is the ease of surfing movies and the simplicity of rating and reviewing. The associated drawback is that there is much less rich information about each film, performer, and crew member.

But wait, there’s also widgets!

Is Mt. Gravel a symbol?

Leave a comment

Cross-posted at techPresident.

Astrophysicist being interviewed For this installment of my series of visits to each candidate’s Second Life efforts, I was joined by PDF Associate Editor Josh Levy, also known as Spencer Mukerji. We had the good fortune of running into Astrophysicist McCallister who is the official (but unpaid) Second Life Coordinator for Mike Gravel’s presidential campaign.

This is the first campaign we have seen with an officially recognized and at least nominally supported presence in Second Life. Other efforts are entirely volunteer-generated with little or no contact with their respective campaigns. Overall, I was impressed with Gravel’s site. It has a professional feeling (not overly showy nor amateurish) and is quite functional as well.

Continue reading “Is Mt. Gravel a symbol?” →

Welcome, Earthlyn

1 Comment

Earthlyn I just renewed my lapsed membership the Buddhist Peace Fellowship in honor of their new new Executive Director. Since they are based in San Fransisco, I don’t know much about their internal workings, but I know there have been some stumbles in the past. (Like when Diana Winston, who founded their incredible BASE program, was let go.)

I am happy to see that the new BPF director is Earthlyn Manuel, an African-American woman with a history of addressing oppression of many kinds. She seems to have all the requisite Buddhist cred, but also represents the necessary challenge to dominant culture that is an essential part of being an Engaged Buddhist.

She also has one of the coolest names I have heard in a while. 🙂

And me with no A/C

1 Comment

Our air went out 6 days ago, and yesterday it burned out a new motor while being repaired. I think a few extra trips to the pool are in order this week.

A BUILDING AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING VERY HOT CONDITIONS TO CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA ON FRIDAY. AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES ARE PROJECTED TO BE IN THE MID AND UPPER 90S. THESE TEMPERATURES COUPLED WITH THE HUMIDITY WILL CREATED HEAT INDICES IN THE 100-104 DEGREE RANGE IN THE AFTERNOON.
– National Weather Service Watch Warning Advisory Summary